1. SPONSORED:
The Contest is sponsored by General Mills Canada Corporation (the “Sponsor”). Contest begins on May 1, 2025, at 12:00:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and ends on August 31, 2025, at 11:59:59 p.m. (ET) (the “Contest Period”). NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Making a purchase will not increase chances of winning. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial, and local laws and regulations, and is void where prohibited.
2. ELIGIBILITY
The Contest is open to all legal residents of Canada who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory at the time of entry. The Contest is not open to: (i) employees, officers, directors, representatives or agents of the Sponsor, or the Contest’s administrator, or any of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates; (ii) the spouse and any member of the immediate family (defined as biological, step or adoptive mother, father, daughter, son, sister or brother) of any person described in (i); and (iii) any person who resides with any person described in (i) or (ii).
Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and the Sponsor and administrator’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. To be eligible to win a Prize in the Contest, entrants must comply with these Official Rules.
If entering using the online entry option described below, please keep your original RECEIPT. In the event you are selected as an eligible winner, you may be required to present your original RECEIPT for verification purposes. Failure to complete any required verification to the complete satisfaction of the Sponsor may result in disqualification.
3. HOW TO ENTER
There are two ways to enter the Contest: (I) Online Entry, or (II) Mail-In Entry
Online Entry: To enter the Contest online, participants will need to:
a. Purchase at least one (1) participating product listed below (the “Participating Products”) shown on one (1) store RECEIPT (the “RECEIPT”), at a [retail store/e-commerce business] located in Canada (“Participating Store”) during the Contest Period. If enough participating products for more than one contest entry are purchased on the same receipt, that receipt may be submitted more than 1 time in a separate online transaction. The receipt must contain enough purchased participating products for the number of additional submissions in order to be valid each time. You must wait at least 24 hours to submit that receipt again after your first submission. For further clarity, if a receipt is used multiple times, but does not have enough participating products for each submission, only those initial submissions up to the number of participating products will be considered valid.
Participating Products must be from the following list and are subject to availability:
Cereal Products:
65633-13465 Cheerios™
65633-13414 Honey Nut Cheerios™
65633-13415 Multi-Grain Cheerios™
65633-13434 Lucky Charms ™
65633-13442 Cinnamon Toast Crunch™
65633-13443 GMI REESES PUFFS CEREAL CDA
65633-15816 Oatmeal Crisp Almond
65633-15818 Oatmeal Crisp Triple Berry
65633-15817 Oatmeal Crisp Maple Nut
Snacks and Annie’s Products:
65633-14637 BC Fruit by the Foot VP
65633-45204 MOTTS FRTSNTNS VEG FRT SNACK ASSTD FRT
65633-27087 BC Fruit Snack SPECIAL EDITION PAW PATROL
65633-07470 Nature Valley Crunchy Oats & Honey
65633-46532 Nature Valley LNCH BX GRAN BARS DOUBLE CHOC 5CT
13562-00020 Annie’s MAC CHS SHELLS WHT CHDR
13562-00039 Annie’s MAC CHS SHELLS RL CHDR
13562-00050 Annie’s MAC CHS CLASSIC CHDR
b. Enter via the Internet by going to www.gmfreegroceries.ca (the “Contest Website”) and follow the link to the Contest registration page.
c. Complete the entry form on the Contest Website by filling in all of the following information, accurately and completely (as failure to do so may disqualify the entry): your name, mailing address with postal code, e-mail address, telephone number, date of birth, and provide a scan or photo of a single RECEIPT, clearly showing the retailer name, the date and time of transaction and the purchase of at least one (1) Participating Product in a single transaction that was purchased during the Contest Period. Please keep your original RECEIPT. Receipts are not interchangeable after the fact. The photo of the receipt submitted with your entry is the RECEIPT associated with that entry – whether mistakenly submitted by you or otherwise.
d. Submit the entry form by clicking on the “Submit” button. Upon clicking the “Submit” button, you will be automatically taken to play the Spin Your Grocery Cart game for a chance to win a prize. You will also automatically be entered into the draws for the Grand Prizes. The Contest administrator’s (defined as representative(s) of the company working with General Mills to deliver this Contest) computer is the official time keeping device for the Contest. Online entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday August 31, 2025. Entries submitted after the end of the Contest Period will not be accepted.
f. RECEIPTS that cannot be validated for any reason will be rejected. Reasons for rejections include, but not limited to: (i) fails to pass anti-fraud detection system; (ii) is unauthorized, fake, not from a Participating Store or has been illegitimately obtained; (iii) contains any messages, or other markings not recognized by the administrator; (iv) is illegible, unreadable, not in focus or blank; (v) has been previously used; (vi) does not include at least one of the specifically listed Participating Products for each submission, or is not dated during the Contest Period; or (vii) is incorrectly or incompletely entered or submitted.
Mail-In Entry: No purchase is necessary to enter the Contest by following these steps:
No Purchase Entry: Participants may write a unique 50-word essay on why the entrant enjoys General Mills Canada products (the “Essay”), hand print his/her name and complete mailing address, e-mail address, phone number and birth date on an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper (mechanical reproductions void) and mail the Essay to the address directly below. Essays must be received by Sunday August 31, 2025, in order to be eligible to enter Contest. Limit of 10 Essay entries per person or household. The Contest administrator will enter the Contest on your behalf with the e-mail address you provided. An e-mail will be sent to that e-mail address letting you know if you have won a prize. Depending on the prize level you may also be required to submit the declaration and correctly answer the skill-testing question. If the e-mail address provided is not valid or is unreadable then your entry will be void will not be submitted, and you will not be notified.
Groceries for a Year Contest; 800 Somerville Terrace; Milton, Ontario; L9T 5T9
All RECEIPTs submitted are subject to verification at the sole and absolute discretion of the Sponsor. Any RECEIPT that cannot be verified to the full satisfaction of the Sponsor, relating to these Official Rules and regulations will cause an entry to be invalid and the entrant will be subject to immediate disqualification from the Contest (in which case any rights to any Prize associated with such invalidated RECEIPT will be forfeited in its entirety).
Limit one (1) entry (per official RECEIPT or Essay submitted) per person or household per day.
Limit Ten (10) entries per person or household for the entire Contest.
These limits apply whether the entrant enters online or by mail. Each online entry must relate to a valid RECEIPT, and each mail-in entry must relate to a unique Essay. If it is discovered by the Sponsor (using any evidence or other information made available to or otherwise discovered by the Sponsor) that any person has attempted to: (i) use multiple names, identities, addresses, email addresses and/or any automated, macro, script, bot, robotic or other system(s), and/or any other means not in keeping with the Sponsor’s interpretation of the intent and spirit of these Official Rules to enter or otherwise participate in or to disrupt this Contest; (ii) falsely enter a RECEIPT without legitimately obtaining a RECEIPT in accordance with these Official Rules; (iii) re-enter a RECEIPT or Essay a subsequent time after its first use; and/or (iv) enter a RECEIPT that has been manipulated, faked, changed, or otherwise altered in any way (all as determined by Sponsor); then the entrant may be disqualified from the Contest, may have a prior potential winning entry revoked, may have any entries removed from the sweepstakes draw, and/or be disqualified from future contests, all at the complete discretion of the Sponsor. An entry may be rejected if (at the full discretion of the Sponsor) the online entry form is not fully completed with all required information (including, but not limited to, providing a unique and valid RECEIPT legitimately obtained in accordance with these Official Rules) and submitted and received in accordance with these Official Rules.
4. PRIZES
There are 3 ways to Win:
1. Ten (10) Grand Prize Draws.
2. Daily instant win prizes.
3. Free Product Coupons
a. Grand Prizes: There are ten (10) prizes of Groceries For a Year (“Grand Prize”) available to be won through ten (10) random draws throughout the Contest Period (see section 6 a. below). Each Grand Prize will consist of $10,400 (Canadian Dollars) in Gift Cards valid at a Canadian grocery store of the winners’ choice (subject to availability). This equates to fifty-two (52) CAD $200 Grocery Gift Cards Grand Prize Draws will be conducted on the following dates from all eligible entries up to 11:59 pm EST the night before:June 3, June 17, July 1, July 15, July 29, August 12, August 26, September 9, September 16, and September 23.
b. Daily Prizes: There are a total of Six Hundred (600) daily Grocery Gift Card prizes of $100 (Canadian $) (each, a “Daily Prize”) available to be won. The Daily Prizes will be awarded as a $100 prepaid Gift Card valid at a Canadian grocery store of winner’s choice (subject to availability). Grocery Gift Cards are subject to terms and conditions.
c. Other Prizes: There are also additional giveaways of FREE General Mills Product coupons for entrants who have not won a $100 Daily prize, including both online and mail-in entrants. The first 15,000 Free Coupon winners will receive two (2) Free Product Coupons. After 15,000 coupon winners, additional winners will receive one (1) Free Product Coupon.
When consumers are entering the Contest, they will be given a dropdown menu of grocery stores and chains across Canada. They will be asked to select their preferred store from this list. Mail-in entrants selected as potential winners will be asked to confirm this preference via email. The associated Grocery Gift Card(s) related to that selected store will be the type given as their prize if they are selected and verified as a winner of a Grand Prize or a $100 Grocery Gift Card. If the store they selected with the dropdown does not have grocery gift cards, or are out of stock of those, or for any other reason as determined by the Contest Administrator, then that entrant will be awarded a $100 prepaid purchase card instead.
The Prizes include delivery, and are non-transferable, and no substitution will be made unless Sponsor, in its sole discretion, determines otherwise. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize for one of equal or greater value should it become unavailable for any reason. Winners are responsible for all taxes and fees associated with receipt of a prize and/or use.
5. ODDS OF WINNING
a. Grand Prizes: The total number of Grand Prizes available to be won is ten (10). The odds of winning a Grand Prize will depend on the total number of entries received during the applicable entry period.
b. Daily Prizes: All eligible entries received will win one of the daily prizes assuming their submission is valid. The odds of winning a particular Daily Prize will depend on the total number and timing of entries received. Random times throughout the Contest Period will be generated, and the first eligible entrant after that time each will be selected as a potential winner of a $100 Grocery Gift Card. Entries that do not win a Grocery Gift Card will be selected to win one of the coupon prizes.
c. Coupon Prizes: All additional entries will receive either 2 FREE product coupons or 1 FREE product coupon.
The Spin your Grocery Cart game portion of this Contest is purely for entertainment purposes and to enhance the Contest experience. Playing the Spin your Grocery Cart game will not affect the odds of winning a prize.
Please allow up to 12 weeks following confirmation that you are a Daily Prize winner for Daily Prize delivery. Please allow up to 12 weeks following the Grand Prize draws for Grand Prize delivery.
6. SELECTION OF POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNERS AND PRIZE CLAIM
Potential Prize Winners
All potential winners of either the $100 Grocery Gift Card or the Grand Prize must correctly answer a time-limited, mathematical skill-testing question without assistance of any kind (whether mechanical or otherwise) in order to be verified as a winner.
a. Grand Prize Draws: A random draw for one (1) Grand Prize will be held on each of the following dates for a total of ten (10) Grand Prize Draws: Dates are all in 2025 … Tuesday June 3, Tuesday June 17, Tuesday July 1, Tuesday July 15, Tuesday July 29, Tuesday August 12, Tuesday August 6, Tuesday September 9, Tuesday September 16, and Tuesday September 23. . These draws will be done by an independent contest organization from among all eligible entries received by 11:59:59 pm EST the night before each draw (or the Contest close in the case of the last draw for online entries). Non-winning Grand Prize entries will be carried forward to subsequent draws. For each draw, multiple entries will be selected as backup in the event the first drawn entry is invalid. Once an entrant is selected, and before any further communications, all elements of that entry will first be verified to confirm receipt and entry validation, and that the contestant has adhered to all of the Official Rules. If the receipt, or any other element for that entry, is deemed not valid according to the Official Rules, that entry will be disqualified, and the next additional entries that were drawn will be continue to be verified in order of selection until a valid winner has been identified. Three (3) attempts will then be made to contact the validated entrant at the email address and two (2) attempts at the phone number provided on their entry form between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET during a period of seven (7) days following the draw. If the validated entrant cannot be contacted within seven (7) days, by either email or phone, the entrant will be considered to have forfeited the Grand Prize and will be disqualified and another entrant may be drawn from the remaining eligible entries until such time as contact is made with a selected entrant or there are no more eligible entries, whichever comes first. The Sponsor will not be responsible for failed attempts to contact a selected entrant
b. Daily Prizes:
(i) For online entries that are selected for a Daily Prize $100 Grocery Card Prize (by the timing method), upon completion of the entry process you will be informed on the Contest Website and by email that you have potentially won a Daily Prize, pending successful RECEIPT validation and verification, as well as receipt by the Contest Administrator of the accurately completed Declaration and Release Form (including correctly answering the skill testing question) when required for the $100 Grocery Gift Card prize.
(ii) For mail-in entries, your entry will be entered into the Contest within 21 days following receipt by the Contest administrator, and you will be informed if you are a winner by the Contest administrator through use of your contact information as provided in your entry.
If you have been selected as a potential Daily Prize or Grand Prize winner in accordance with these Official Rules, then you will need to officially be confirmed as a winner by the Sponsor prior to being able to receive your Prize. NO ONE IS A WINNER UNLESS AND UNTIL THE SPONSOR OFFICIALLY CONFIRMS HIM/HER AS A WINNER IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES. You are not automatically a winner until your RECEIPT or Essay for Mail-In Entries has been validated and verified to contain ALL required information and you have correctly answered the skill-testing question. Each selected entrant will also be required to sign and return, within the time stipulated in the documents, a Declaration of Compliance with these Rules and a Liability and Publicity Release (collectively, the “Declaration and Release”) that includes the need to correctly answer a mathematical skill-testing question. After the full validation process is completed, the winner’s contact information will be forwarded to the Sponsor or Contest administrator to arrange the prize fulfillment.
(iii) If the selected entrant fails to submit a valid RECEIPT or Essay, cannot be reached within ten (10) business days of the date of being declared a potential winner, fails to accurately and completely submit the completed Declaration and Release within the time allotted, or fails to correctly answer the skill-testing question, the Sponsor or Contest administrator shall conclude that the selected entrant has forfeited the Prize, which may then be awarded to an alternate eligible entrant at the Sponsor’s discretion.
c. Coupon Prizes
You are not automatically a winner until your RECEIPT or Essay for Mail-In Entries has been validated. If validated, you will receive your coupon(s) by mail within 6 weeks. If your submission is invalid, then you will receive an email indicating this.
7. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
All entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned.
Any use of automated devices is prohibited. Entries attempted by methods other than those described in these Official Rules shall be deemed void. Any attempt by any participant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different e-mail addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void that participant's entries and that participant may be disqualified. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in disqualification.
In the event of a dispute as to any registration, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address used to register will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. A selected entrant may be required to provide Sponsor with proof that the entrant is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the selected entry. Proof of sending will not be deemed to be proof of receipt.
Sponsor also reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify from this Contest, and any future contest or other promotion Sponsor conducts, any individual that it finds or believes to be tampering with the entry process, or the operation of the Contest or Contest Website, to be acting in violation of the Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.
ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE CONTEST WEBSITE OR ANY WEBSITE USED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CONTEST, OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
8. CONSENT TO COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
By entering the Contest and/or voluntarily providing personal information, each entrant consents and agrees to the collection, use and disclosure of the entrant’s personal information by Sponsor and its third-party services’ providers for the purpose of administering the Contest and fulfilling Daily Prizes and the Grand Prize. The Sponsor will not use an entrant’s personal information for any other reason, nor will the Sponsor otherwise disclose it to any third party without consent of entrant. Visit www.greattgrocerygiveaway.ca/privacy for additional information on how your personal information is being handled.
9. RELEASE
By entering the Contest, entrants agree that the Sponsor shall not be responsible or liable for any losses or injuries of any kind resulting from participating in the Contest or acceptance, possession and/or use or misuse of the Grand Prize or Daily Prize, or any part thereof, and agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Sponsor, and its respective officers, directors, parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, related companies, advertising and promotional agencies, Participating Stores, Contest administrators, third party services’ providers, Hershey Canada Inc. and prize suppliers (collectively, the “Releasees”) from all claims or damages arising out of entrant’s participation in the Contest and/or acceptance, use or misuse of the Grand Prizes or Daily Prizes, or any part thereof. By accepting a Grand Prize or Daily Prize, the prize winner agrees to the use of his/her name, city of residence, photograph and/or other likeness in any related publicity for Sponsor and Releasees, in any medium, including presence on the Sponsor’s website, without further compensation or permission, worldwide and in perpetuity. Sponsor makes no representation or warranty that any identification, videotape, photograph and/or likeness of the winner will be broadcast or used otherwise in any manner.
10. LIABILITY
All decisions of the Sponsor and the Contest administrator are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest, and the Sponsor, Releasees and the administrator shall not be held responsible for any accident, negligence, printing, administrative or other errors that may arise or occur in connection with the Contest. The Sponsor reserves the right to modify, amend, suspend, or terminate this Contest in whole or in part, at any time without notice and with no obligation or liability, subject to applicable law. If the Contest is terminated, in whole or in part, before the end of the Contest Period, the Sponsor reserves the right to select the winner in a random drawing from all eligible, non-suspect entries recorded and received by the Sponsor as of the date of the termination or the event causing or relating to the termination, as determined by the Sponsor in its own discretion.
The Contest Sponsor and affiliates are not responsible for: (a) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (b) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (c) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Contest; (d) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; (e) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize; (f) the security or privacy of information transmitted via computer networks; or (g) breaches of privacy due to interference by third party computer hackers or for any damage caused to or incurred by any eligible entrant or any other person by reason of any such event or occurrence. If for any reason an entrant's entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another entry in the Contest, unless it is not possible to award another entry due to discontinuance of the Contest, or any part of it, for any reason, in which case entrant will have no remedy against Sponsor. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. In the event that production, technical, seeding, programming or any other reasons cause more than the stated number of prizes as set forth in these Rules to be available and/or claimed, Sponsor reserves the right to award only the stated number of prizes by a random drawing among all legitimate, unawarded, eligible prize claims. Entries are subject to verification and will be declared invalid if they are incomplete, garbled, forged, falsified, altered, or tampered with in any way.
1. The Releasees shall not be liable to prize winners or any other person for failure to supply any Prize or any part thereof by reason of any acts of God, any actions, regulations, orders, or requests by any governmental entity, equipment failure, terrorist acts, war, fire, unusually severe weather, embargo, labour dispute or strike, labour or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Releasees.
2. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify, suspend or terminate the Contest, to change any Contest draw dates and to modify these Rules at any time without notice, for any reason, including, without limitation, if, in the opinion of the Sponsor, in its sole and absolute discretion:
A) fraud, misconduct, or technical failures destroy or threaten the integrity of any portion of the Contest;
B) a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration, security, or proper conduct of the Contest; or
C) there is any accident or printing, administrative or other error of any kind related to the Contest.
11. MISCELLANEOUS
All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and Sponsor in connection with the Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of Ontario. Sponsor is not responsible for any entries that are lost, late, incomplete, illegible, or misdirected. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. If any provision of the Official Rules is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, then the Official Rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to administer an alternate test of skill as it deems appropriate or necessary to comply with applicable law.